Value, like every other idea, comes from the unseen because everything that is tangible was intangible. It is the journey from ideation to innovation. Driving force, which is and has always been in dearth, is execution or implementation. Without the power of execution, it is impossible to bring ideas to life, and that is where persistence through commitment comes into the mix.
Acquiring knowledge is good. Applying knowledge acquired is great for the value is in what is created that others can use and keep their life going in the value chain. Life is able to go on because value is in place and constantly being created by some persons. Without value, life is meaningless.
Men must constantly question themselves on the value they are creating in their space. A man who must live responsibly must be in alignment with value creation. Through this his thinking is critical, he questions assumptions, reasons logically, and diversifies his thoughts. He is also able to constantly evaluate his creative and delivery quotient to his community or tribe.
The first and evaluative question that a mind driven towards the creation of value asks is: what is within me? And perhaps another one is, what is required without or outside me? Finding the balance between both should be truly magical.
What is within me is the gift. That is free but it is subject to discovery. This is because it is hidden and not useful until it is known and developed. This is a process that requires great effort. Without persistence it cannot reach the end game. Being intelligent or smart is not enough to pull through. Grit is a major component to birthing value.
What is without are the people for whom what is within is given. That is the purpose for which you got the gift, but the gift is useless if you do not receive it. Receiving the gift means discovering, developing, and making concerted efforts to deliver. It is from the place of acceptance.
Thus, without are resources to engage with. Finding the balance here is a lot. It does mean harnessing divergence. It does mean working with others whose thoughts and ideas differ from yours in the way of vision, purpose, and perspective, though they are without and in the same space with you.
Being in the same physical space with you may not necessarily mean that they are for you. They may be for you in the way of throwing jibes, heckling, or demotivating you. Use all of it well, for everything can work for you depending on how you see it. Your perspective is a great treasure that can make all the difference.
They may be for you only when you are done creating and their lot is to reap benefit either by scrounging or through patronage. Either way, they are for you, whether you think they are for you or they are for you or they are against you. All things are for you. This is a mindset. Choose your mindset carefully. Painstaking work is required.
To create value is to be in the value chain and that means to attract patronage to yourself through the value you create. You take care of things therefore and unless you take care of yourself you cannot take care of things. It is the quality of care that you have that you can apply. This is character.
To create value we must encounter crushing in the same way that we pass fruits through the extraction process to extract juice. The process of execution leads to producing services and goods and this continues for all time as what was earlier produced has to be subjected to improvement and upgrade through continuous practice.
Winners are wedded to the ideal of practice and thus they go from incompetence to competence to excellence and mastery or genius zone. Despite mastery, we do not cease from practice because the whole idea is the embracing of improvement.
Let me end this on this note: "The tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them, is the primary basis of all human mental illness. When we avoid the legitimate suffering that results from dealing with problems, we also avoid the growth that problems demand from us.
[The Road Less Travelled by M Scott Peck].
The road of value is the road less travelled. Creating value comes from separation from the throng through the process of identifying what you want to do, who you want to do it for, and why you want to do it.
In praise of the creation of value is the acceptance of the fact that there can be no end without a beginning and unless we look away from the pains and frustrations of the moment, we may never be able to see any value through to its logical end where people are able to enjoy the benefits.
